NHS staff at Dawlish paid a special tribute to the army of volunteers who have helped them and their colleagues achieve this.

A ‘Clap for our Car Park Volunteers’ took take place on Monday morning as a tribute to their efforts in all weathers.

Michelle Jones, lead manager for The Coastal Network and practice business manager at the Barton Surgery in Dawlish, says: ‘The GP practices in Teignmouth and Dawlish (which form The Coastal Network) are working collaboratively to deliver the coronavirus vaccination programme at Dawlish Community Hospital.

‘The hospital team have been hugely supportive to this monumental effort and we are proud of the whole team that have made this possible in a short period of time what would, in the case of the annual flu vaccination, usually take more than six months of planning.

‘The whole team are working tirelessly to invite large numbers of people, organise clinics, arrange storage for the vaccines and supplies and keep staff training up to date.

‘Our teams are working long hours to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly and as safely as possible, while continuing to run our normal general practice services.

‘We are extremely grateful for all the volunteers who have come forward to support us, working closely with us in every aspect.

‘And also the local community; because we rely on the national supply chain, we don’t always get a lot of notice to contact our patients, so we appreciate everyone’s patience with us.

‘Even though this has been a challenging time, the uptake of the vaccine has been outstanding.

GP-led sites like ours offer appointments when we receive supplies from the national supply chain and we have already vaccinated thousands of patients.

There are nine priority groups that have been set out nationally by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations; we are moving through these groups in stages so please don’t worry if you haven’t heard from us yet.

‘We will contact you when it’s your turn.

‘You may be contacted by the national booking service and offered an appointment with a community pharmacy or one of the large-scale centres in Exeter or Plymouth. They offer an important additional option for people who are eligible to come and get their vaccine. But this is just another option.

‘If you can’t travel or you would rather have an appointment closer to home, you can choose to do that, and the practice will be in touch soon to offer an alternative.

‘And finally, if we do contact you and invite you for an appointment, it’s important you attend.

‘Vaccination is our way out of lockdown and getting vaccinated is the single most important thing we can do to beat COVID-19 and help our hospitals over the coming weeks.’